Final Fantasy XIII-2 review – Lightning strikes

The sequel to one of the most controversial games of recent years tries to fix fan complaints with the original – but does it pick the right battles?

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) – battle across time

It might be up to its thirteenth sequel, but numbered Final Fantasy games are usually never continuations of the previous game. Direct sequels are rare and Final Fantasy X-2 remains the only one to appear on the same system as the original. Given the controversy of the last game a sequel to XIII seems a peculiar idea, but it was a considerable sales success – particularly in North America.

It’s not hard to imagine the same gameplay mechanics being put to better use in a more compelling follow-up, and that’s exactly what’s been attempted here. But it’s all held back by something far harder to fix than a lack of side quests or world map. But we’ll get onto the storytelling laterâ¦

XIII-2 does fix many of the problems with the original game. Those that complained about its linearity and the lack of towns to visit, and people to interact with, will find this a much more traditional Japanese role-playing experience. It’s certainly not an open world adventure but you can almost hear the checklist of fan complaints being ticked off, as Square Enix try to right each of the game’s much-discussed wrongs.

In fact the game makes so much effort to appear non-linear that it abandons any sense of causality at all, by introducing a typically confusing time travel element. What this means in gameplay terms is that you can skip between many different times and places at will, with each area being relatively small but offering an impressive amount of variety for even the most expansive role-player.

Naturally this allows plenty of time for the sort of optional exploration and side-questing that the original game eschewed, but the old adage of being careful what you wish for soon started ringing in our heads. The amount of fetch quests and monster hunt requests quickly becomes wearing and there still aren’t proper shops, just an annoying woman in a chocobo costume that magically appears everywhere you go.

There are distractions, such as a series of abstract puzzle mini-games and the chance to take your chocobo racing, but they all seem like uninspired fan service rather than an organic part of the game.

The best element remains the battle system, which despite a number of positive additions is still fundamentally the same as before. Random battles in most areas are back, but they can be skipped fairly easily and they’re usually not that frequent. Controlling combat is still achieved via a menu system but this is far from the staid line-dancing of old, with an impressively cinematic camera and endlessly bizarre creature designs.

Characters can still switch jobs/classes whenever they want and once they have access to multiple roles these can then be combined together to form a custom type called a paradigm. The problem is though that the game is generally very easy throughout and certainly it was several hours before we had to think about any of the battles in any kind of tactical depth – the vast majority can just be set on autopilot. Or at least the ones that don’t involve a half-hearted quick time event sequence.

What does keep your interest, even though it too takes several hours to come into its own, is the idea of recruiting monsters as allies. Doing so is frustratingly random but once they’re on your side you’ve access to some usefully specialised allies – from medic to melee fighter. They can all be levelled up separately and you can associate a different monster with a different character paradigm.

The battling and levelling up system is arguably the best series has seen for years but there are still deep-seated issues that result from a game that is desperately trying to appeal to both its traditional Japanese market and a wider Western audience. For example, what appears to be a Mass Effect style dialogue system has no decision-making impact on the story whatsoever, just the immediate conversation.

And although it’s obviously great that the game is less linear, movement around the game world feels awkward and old-fashioned in terms of controls and movement – particularly the new platforming sections. The background visuals themselves are also noticeably less impressive than last time, with semi-frequent frame rate problems and long load times. The illusion that you’re controlling the characters in a believable, fictional world is almost non-existent.

But the real issue is that the story is still a confusing mess, not because you need to have played the original to understand it but because it’s simply so baldy told. The new time travel element leads to even more fractured storytelling and the sort of nonsensical plot resolution that makes Doctor Who seem like gritty realism. And that’s when there is a resolution at all. We can only imagine the fan rage that will result when they get to the end of the gameâ¦

Add to all this confusing world lore and jargon, dialogue that would make George Lucas wince, and two main characters that, although less irritating than before, are not the sort of people you necessarily want to follow around for a 60 hour adventure (or about 30 if you avoid getting side-tracked).

The game’s marketing focuses heavily on Lightning, by far the most interesting character from the last game, but she’s playable in the game for only a very short time. Instead everything revolves around her younger sister Serah and new character Noel, a generic Japanese teen hero who’s the last remaining human from the future. The previous cast all make cameos in some way but the least endearing always seems to get the most screen time.

Unlike the last game genre fans will be able to enjoy this simply in terms of the gameplay, but Final Fantasy still has a long way to go to return to the series’ previous highs. And based on this we’re still not sure if it’s even going in the right direction.

In Short:An improved sequel on paper only, with an overall experience that is still ruined by incoherent storytelling and unsympathetic characters.

Pros:Excellent battle system and the monster collection is a good addition. Plenty of variety in locations and enemies, even if they lack a cohesive theme.Cons:Poorly told, borderline nonsensical, plot with unlikeable – or at best bland – characters and weak dialogue. Battles take a long time to get interesting and non-combat controls are poor.